How 20.2 Million PS4 Units Sold May Mean Fewer Third Party Exclusives And A Win For Gamers
With the recent announcement from Sony that they have sold 20.2 million units of the PS4 world-wide the system continues to show support from the gaming community which have made it the top system in terms of sales ever since it launched.
Looking at the impressive numbers, this is something that will likely have huge ramifications for PS4 fans down the road as it is simply a number that is too large for any developers to ignore. Case in Point, Titanfall. Microsoft paid to keep it an Xbox exclusive and with the exception of the PC release, the game did not appear in any other format despite word that the developers wanted to put it on the PS4 after seeing how well that system was selling.
Now we get word that Titanfall 2 will be on the PS4 as well and that Microsoft is forced to try to do a timed launch deal, similar to what they do with DLC for Call of Duty in which they would get it first before it appears on their rival system.
This is a shift in how business is going to be done as companies will not be so eager to sign an exclusive deal as even with the understanding that some PS4 owners have an Xbox One, the numbers are so staggering that developers simply cannot afford to put all their eggs in one basket and exclude a huge segment of the gaming population.
Some will say Street Fighter V is an example of how this trend will not change, and if so, I can see that if thirds parties do exclusives, they may be more likely to look at Sony first now than in years past simply over pure numbers. While they may not want to do exclusives, a 20.2 million sales base does make it easier to be willing to look at Sony over Microsoft if one does go the exclusive route.
Going forward this means that the emphasis will have to be on internally developed exclusives as third party developers will not be so quick to go the exclusive route anymore.
We may also see a run on smaller developers as Microsoft and Sony attempt to bring them in house to ensure more exclusive content but the cost of doing this may be too prohibitive for this to become the norm.
In the end this is a win for gamers plain and simple as it means that they can look forward to more content for their PS4 system than ever before and with the announced release of the VR headset, Morpheus in 2016, a bolder and brighter future in gaming is ahead.
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